Heart drug could reduce diabetes related blindness

Researchers at UCL and Queen's University Belfast have discovered that a drug originally developed to treat cardiovascular disease has the potential to reduce diabetes related blindness. According to recent WHO global estimates, 422 million people have diabetes. One of the most common complications of this disease is vision loss. Diabetic macular oedema occurs in approximately 7 per cent of patients with diabetes and is one of the most common causes of blindness in the western world. In the UK, this sight-threatening complication of diabetic retinopathy is associated with estimated health and social care costs of £116 million. The socio-economic burden will only increase with prevalence of diabetes rising by more than 50 per cent by 2030. The researchers, in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline, found that the drug Darapladib inhibits an enzyme which is increased in people with diabetes and causes blood vessel leakage in the eye which leads to swelling of the retina and severe vision loss.